Pontigny, the largest Cistercian Abbey in France, was founded in 1114. The Transepts are the oldest part of the Abbey dating from 1140 and the nave was finished some twenty years later. The Choiur dates from 1185. A mixture of Romanesque and transitional Gothic, the church is of an extreme simplicity apart from the choir stalls and screen dating from the end of the 17th Century.

Three Archbishops of Canterbury sought refuge here; Thomas a Beckett, Stephen Langton and Edmond Rich, the latter being buried behind the altar.

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